Beating The Beast From The East - Highways England Restoring Smooth Journeys

Highways England is working hard to repair damage caused by the recent Beast from the East and to improve road users' journeys.

The company responsible for motorways and major A roads is carrying out urgent repairs to road surfaces in Yorkshire and the North East damaged by the recent severe weather.

During cold temperatures water, which seeps below the road surface, freezes and expands putting pressure on the road surface. When the ice melts and contracts the pressure decreases and this repeated process can cause the road surface to weaken. Traffic on the road can then cause the road surface to deteriorate which is why potholes are more frequent during the winter months.

Highways England scheme delivery manager David Wheatley said:

“Safety is at the centre of everything we do, and so to help ensure safe journeys we not only maintain our roads to a high standard but we also regularly inspect them to check for any new defects. Where problems such as potholes are detected we act to remedy them swiftly.

“Following the severe weather we quickly put in place a programme of urgent repairs.

“We have already repaired sections of the A66, the A184 and A1 in the North East and the A64, M1 junction 39 and A628 in Yorkshire and we have further plans to target other sections of the A1, A628 and A64 as well as sections of the A63, A1033, and M62 which will be carried out as soon as possible.”

Highways England is delivering the Government’s £15 billion road investment strategy between 2015 and 2020. This includes £7.593bn on modernising and enhancing the network and £3.658bn on renewals and maintenance.

In the last year Highways England has resurfaced over 1,200 lane miles, this includes 300 lane miles as part of planned maintenance in Yorkshire and the North East. This hard work will continue to ensure England’s motorways and major A roads are maintained to a safe and serviceable condition.

Members of the public can report any issues on Highways England road network by emailing info@highwaysengland.co.uk or calling our 24 hour Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000.